


Build a Boy

by ilove_ryan_ross



Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M, Robot/Human Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 08:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30035736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilove_ryan_ross/pseuds/ilove_ryan_ross
Summary: Otto and Geoff met in collage, and quickly became fast friends. When Otto asks Geoff to come help him with his final's project in robotics, Geoff gladly obliges. He just didn't expect Otto's project to be THIS.
Relationships: Awsten Knight/Geoff Wigington
Kudos: 5





	Build a Boy

Otto and Geoff had met in collage. Geoff was learning philosophy, while Otto was learning robotics. Geoff had taken a few robotics courses, because he needed the extra points and it seemed fairly fun. Him and Otto had hit it off instantly, bonding over their shared love for My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy, and were best friends ever since.

With their final projects looming overhead, they were forced to spend less and less time together, which is why, when Otto called him and asked to meet up, Geoff gladly took the opportunity to leave his dorm and hang out with his best friend again.

When he entered the younger's room, however, he was surprised to see what sat in the middle of his living room. It was about five feet tall and covered in a white dust sheet.

"Otto..." Geoff said hesitantly. "What is that?"

"It's my project," Otto stated simply, walking over to it and quickly throwing the sheet off with very little finesse.

Geoff's jaw dropped.

Right in front of him, in the middle of the living room, stood a robot. Now, it wasn't as if Geoff had never seen a robot before, of course he has, but never something quite like this.

It was humanoid, probably slightly shorter than Geoff himself, but it was hunched over, obviously turned off. It seemed like a male design, but it was kinda hard to tell, what with the skinny jeans and oversized sweater it was wearing. Its skin was made up of bronze plates, carefully put together, but there was one thing that Geoff couldn't understand.

"Otto, why is its hair green?"

"Because I fucking felt like it." Otto walked closer to the robot, circling it, and flipped a small switch on the back of its head.

The sound of grinding gears and smoke was heard, and suddenly the robot sprung to life. Its movements were choppy and robotic, but it was incredibly cool.

"Good morning, Awsten," Otto said, walking back around to the robot's front. "This is my friend, Geoff."

Geoff waved, somewhat speechless.

"H- hello, Geoff," The robot spoke, it's voice uneven and creaking. "N- n- n- nice to m- m- meet yo- you."

"Your robot has a stutter," Geoff said, stating the obvious.

"Well, duh," Otto replied, rolling his eyes. "That's why I called you. You got the highest score in our speak software class."

"You only like me for my brains," Geoff mock whined. "Let me see the voice box."

Otto nodded, turned the robot off, and lifted its sweater up from the back, exposing a large hatch. He opened it and pulled out a small box from inside it and handed it to Geoff. The latter spun it around in his hands a bit, looking at it from different angles.

"Yeah, I should be able to fix it," Geoff said.

It didn't really take all that long, as Otto already had all the materials on hand, and it wasn't a really bad malfunction. The moment Geoff was done, he handed the box back to Otto, who put it back in place and connected a few wires before closing the hatch and turning the robot on again.

"Am I fixed?" The robot asked, its voice soft and somewhat deep.

Geoff smiled.

Otto had passed the test with flying colors, but now he had a fully functioning robot on his hands to take care of and maintain. It was only the first prototype, and it malfunctioned quite a lot. Fortunately, Geoff had also passed all his tests, and with all the free time he now had, he was happy to help out.

"Why don't you just shut him down?" Geoff asked one day while they were sitting in Otto's dorm, watching the robot write in neat, organized letters in a notebook that Otto had found a few days before.

"That would be unethical," Otto replied. "He's like a real, human person by this point. Besides, I like having him around."

"Hey Geoff?" Awsten suddenly asked, pulling the two boys out of their short conversation, and for a moment Geoff was worried that the robot would be offended by what he just said.

"Yeah?" Geoff replied, attempting to hide his slight nerves.

"Could you teach me to play guitar?"

And that's how it started. Originally, Geoff had suggested that Awsten updated his software, since that would be a much faster and more efficient way for him to learn to play, but Awsten was adamant on learning like a normal human, so Geoff taught him.

Over the next few weeks, Awsten was spending more time in Geoff's dorm than in Otto's, and has gotten considerably good at playing, and had soon surpassed even Geoff's level. He was an exceptionally fast learner, even when a lot of their time spent together was more so used for goofing around than actual guitar lessons. Geoff often found himself having to be reminded that Awsten is a robot, and not a real human, for fear that he might do something he would regret.

Then, one day, Awsten had left after an exceptionally study-less lesson, and didn't come back the next day. Or the one after that.

Geoff was worried, because Awsten was usually quite punctual, and hasn't missed a lesson before, and it's not as if he could get sick. So he did the obvious thing, and went to Otto's dorm to check on him.

He hadn't visited Otto in quite a while, as he was pretty busy with Awsten, but he didn't expect their interactions to be any different. He was clearly proven wrong when Otto opened the door and with no greeting immediately said, "What have you done to him?" in an accusing voice.

Geoff was confused to say the least, but when Otto let him in, he understood what he meant. Awsten was seated on the couch, topless, with a large panel open in his chest. Strewn around him was Otto's equipment, which he was clearly in the process of using.

"He said that whenever he's around you he malfunctions more, had circuits overheating, he short-wires sometimes, his center of gravity is slightly off, little things that don't really cause problems but still worry him. What have you done?"

"I didn't do anything!" Geoff exclaimed. "Did you try asking him what he thinks the reason is? You know, he's pretty smart, he might have some theories."

"He wouldn't tell me," Otto said, rolling his eyes. "Said his only hypothesis was too unlikely to even consider."

"Turn him on," Geoff said with a sigh. "I'll ask him what I did."

Otto nodded and walked over to the robot and messed with his insides a bit before closing the panel and turning him on. Awsten raised his head and looked around, his eyes meeting Geoff's.

"Why are you here?" He asked timidly, and Geoff never thought that a robot could sound so broken.

"I was worried about you," he replied. "You missed two lessons, I thought I'd come check on you. Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?"

"You didn't do anything." Awsten shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong. I hate not knowing."

"Otto said you have a hypothesis," Geoff tried. "Can you share it with me?"

"It's extremely unlikely, though," Awsten said, and Geoff could see a light blush spreading across his face.

"Are you blushing?" Geoff asked in shock. He didn't think Otto programmed him to be able to blush.

"Otto, it's happening again," Awsten whined, and Otto came to take a closer look.

"Just tell us what your hypothesis is, it might make it easier to solve your problem," Otto said, sighing. It was clear that they have had this conversation a few times already.

"I-" Awsten started, but closed his mouth. For a moment, Geoff was worried that something had gone wrong, but then Awsten took a highly realistic deep breath, and spoke again.

"I think I have a crush on Geoff," he said, and his face turned an even darker shade or red than before, and he his it behind his hands.

Geoff stared at him, wide-eyed. He turned to asked Otto if that was possible, but the latter seemed just as shocked.

Awsten put his hands down, but kept his gaze directed at the floor. His face seemed to have cooled down slightly, but was still redder than it usually was.

"I looked up my symptoms, and that's the only thing that matched," he said softly. "But it doesn't make sense. I'm not supposed to feel emotions like humans do, no matter how well I'm programmed. I don't understand how that could happen to me."

"Do you really need to, though?" Geoff asked after a short pause. "Do you need to understand it? Why not just accept that it can happen, and see where it goes from there?"

"Because I don't like not knowing," Awsten replied. "It's so easy for me to just get an upgrade and suddenly know everything there is to know on a subject, I'm not used to not knowing. I- I'm scared."

"God, Otto, how did you successfully program a human?" Geoff asked.

"Fuck if I know, man," He said. "I certainly didn't plan on that. I knew he's be intelligent, but I didn't expect him to have emotions nearly as developed as they seem to be."

"Can you get rid of them?" Awsten suddenly asked.

"I don't know," Otto replied. "I didn't program them in, I'm not sure if I can get them out. Besides, why would you want to get rid of emotions? They're such wonderful things. I know it can be scary at first, and sometimes you might wish you didn't have them, but would you want to never feel happiness again? Never appreciate beauty?"

"Not at the cost of all the pain that comes with it," Awsten said.

"Awsten, hey." Geoff walked up to him and kneeled in front of him so that they were at eye level with each other. "Look at me." Awsten raised his head slightly and met Geoff's eyes with his own. Geoff was always awestruck by his eyes. They were probably the most human like part of him. Otto had to get two different colors because they were so rare and expensive, but it looked cool.

"Awsten, I can't claim to understand what it's like to suddenly have emotions, but I don't think you really want to get rid of them," Geoff said. "There were times when I wished I could just get rid of all my negative emotions, but I knew I couldn't. Later, I learned to appreciate those emotions, too. You can't have a rainbow without a little rain, and if it weren't for the dark, we'd never know we were living in the light."

Awsten looked at him, his lips slightly parted and his cheeks a rosy color once again.

"Also, I think I may have a crush on you too," Geoff said, his cheeks matching Awsten's with their hue.

Before anything more could be said, Awsten leaned in to kiss him, and Geoff kissed back.


End file.
